Male Postpartum Depression

Male postpartum depression is a condition when the male becomes depressed one year after the child is born. This diseases is not uncommon from the male species. There are a lot of requirements and time to be put into raising a child. Waking up in the middle of the night is one of the highest stressors. The male usually does not get maternity leave so if he is responsible for taking care of the child he could become depressed from lack of sleep. This type of depression can be caused by a number of factors. He could have a history of depression, having a bad relationship with the spouse can affect depression, or even stress. The most common factor is causing postpartum depression in males is if the other spouse is feeling the same way.

I believe that stress is the main cause of this condition. Stress affects the brain, weight, eating habits, exercise, hormones, etc. and can be very harmful to the body. To manage this condition antidepressants are usually prescribed. other motives instead of going straight to the drugs would be meditation, counseling, or hiring a baby sitter for the earlier more complicated stages of the child’s life. I believe there is a strong correlation between healing and believing. From the film “Placebo: Cracking the Code”, there was a story about a doctor in England that treated a man for having warts when he really did not, but was cured anyways. He tried to heal others with the same condition but it never worked and he said that it never worked again because he knew that the treatment he was using was not for that certain disease. Many other experiments were also used to explain how this phenomena works. The experiment when they sent electrical impulses to the man proved that his mind was in complete control.

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My perception of male postpartum depression might differ from the average understanding. Common cultural perceptions of male postpartum depression may be that it is inexistent. If that is not the case, I would think that it would be safe to assume that there is a very little prevalence rate. When a new baby enters the family it is common to imagine that both parent’s lives are about to change, but usually the focus is on the new mother and her baby. The article “Depression In Men: A Dad’s Story of Male Postpartum Depression” shows that postpartum depression in men is more common than I would choose to believe. “As many as 10.4% of new dads experience postpartum depression” leaving this medical illness to be much more widespread. My perception of male postpartum depression has definitely been shaped from society. I think it is typical to here of women having postpartum depression but usually men are expected to provide more financially and show stability for the family during this time. Depression usually affects more women than men, and since the woman is the one actually carrying the baby for nine months, it is easy think she is the one most influenced by the arrival of the child.